SOME QUEER RELATIONS 151 



tract so many insects to the streets of towns and villages, 

 the enterprising night-hawk often forsakes the country to 

 rear her children where they may enjoy the benefits of 

 modern improvements. 



The Chimney Swift 



Length — ^5 to 5.45 inches. About an inch shorter than the 

 English sparrow. Long wings make its length appear 

 greater. 



Male and Female — ^Deep sooty gray; throat a trifle lighter. 

 Wings extend an inch and a half beyond the even tail, 

 which has sharply pointed and very elastic quills, that 

 serve as props. Feet are muscular, and have exceed- 

 ingly sharp claws. 



Range — ^Peculiar to North America east of the Rockies, 

 and from Labrador to Panama. 



Migrations — ^April. September or October. Common 

 summer resident. 



Many people persist in calling this bird the chimney 

 swallow, although it is not even remotely related to the 

 swallows, and its life history, as well as its anatomy, is 

 quite different. " Rowing " toward the roof of your house, 

 as if it used first one wing, then the other, its flight, while 

 swift and powerful, is stiff and mechanical compared with 

 the graceful, gliding swallow's, and its entire aspect sug- 

 gests a bat. The night-hawk and whippoorwiU are its rel- 

 atives, and it resembles them not a httle in its crepuscular 

 habits. 



The name of the chimney swift is everything it ought to 

 be. No other birds can surpass and few can equal it in its 



